Technical progress has been made towards resolving the trade dispute over imports of Chinese electric cars into the European Union, during “intensive negotiations” between European and Chinese officials in Beijing this week, the European Commission said in a press release on Friday 8 November.
This progress concerns the elements that will have to be addressed to ensure the proper application of the minimum price commitments that could be made by the Chinese manufacturers of the electric vehicles concerned as an alternative to the countervailing duties that the EU definitively put in place at the end of October (see EUROPE 13514/2). The tools that would enable the commitments made to be monitored and enforced were also discussed, according to the EU institution.
The Commission recalls that, in accordance with WTO rules, the possibility of offering price undertakings is open to individual companies participating in the investigation, and that discussions with the China ‘Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products’ (CCCME) do not preclude discussions with individual exporters.
The Commission has announced that negotiations will continue next week. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)